Thursday, February 4, 2010

This show seemed to reinforce everything that I like and dislike about seeing shows at the Brillobox. I bought tickets for this show online a couple weeks in advance thinking it would likely sell out, and also having been turned away at the door at 2 shows in December (Donora and Do Make Say Think (although missing the DMST show led Spencer and me to discover the fun of the Brillobox Wendesday night pub quiz)). On the afternoon of the show, I convinced Asa and Charlotte to come along, as well, and Charlotte attempted to buy tix online but was turned away. She called the venue and whoever answered said that there were plenty of tickets left and as long as they showed up when the doors opened (9:30), they should be fine. And that is precisely what happened. But the place never seemed that full and I saw people being turned away at 10:30 or so. So I'm glad it worked out for us, but too bad for the others.

Anyway, Landline came on first just after 10:00, and they played a solid set of guitar-laden tunes that showed some pretty good variety within that genre, even. There were some melodic Pixies-esque numbers and some more yelpy, punky songs, and overall it was a solid amalgam. The drummer was hammering the skins like he was trying to break them, in rhythm. And he did! He knocked the bass drum mike over multiple times, requiring a guy from the front row, and the sound technician, to fix it (on separate occasions), and at some point he “drummed off” the cap on one of his cymbals. The bass player had crazy skinny arms. But that's irrelevant. The music rocked, even when we were all standing way too close to (i.e. right in front of) the speaker.

Next up was Chet Vincent. We moved away from the speaker during the break and I got an Old Chub at the bar. And then the band started to play. And then we went downstairs. I don't mean to rag on this band because they did have a solid, cohesive sound and if you like a sort of country twinge to your rock music, they might be right up your alley. However, the four of us decided to hang out downstairs for a while, especially since Asa & Charlotte had never been to the Brillobox before. I also told them beforehand that they needed to touch the walls upstairs, referring (in my mind) to the velvety black/white pattern on certain sections of the walls. Charlotte interpreted this differently and looked to me at some point early on in the evening while rubbing the plain, black-painted wall with a mixture of confusion and disappointment. I redirected her to the appropriate section of wall after that.

Anyway, we trekked back upstairs later on to catch MOIP finishing their setup. They launched into an energetic set of some of the songs from their self-titled album, threw in another rendition of “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” by the Animals (like the last time I saw them), and played a couple new songs that are supposedly on a forthcoming EP (in the recording process, so says their Myspace page). It was another solid and upbeat set, and the crowd really got into it. They played right over the chatter at the bar and I think I even saw some dancing hipsters!

All in all, a fun night. I enjoyed Landline a lot, personally, and I would gladly watch MOIP play their songs every week, given the chance.